Sliding board, especially a ski, and method for producing the same

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a sliding board, especially a ski, comprising a treadsole, an upper surface, a lower rib and a core, and at least one element which comprises especially at least one rail-type guiding element, is connected to the body of the sliding board by means of at least one anchoring element, and is used to arrange and guide at least one binding element on the upper side of the sliding board. In order to avoid subsequently fixing guiding elements to the finished ski, the at least one anchoring element ( 9, 9′, 9″, 19 ) is integrated into the core ( 5, 5″ ) during the expansion thereof and is held by the hardened foam material.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a sliding board, especially a ski, with arunning sole, an upper shell, a lower web and a core and also with atleast one element for arranging and if appropriate for guiding at leastone binding element on the upper side of the sliding board, whichelement is connected to the sliding board body by means of at least oneanchoring element and comprises in particular at least one rail-typeguide element.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a sliding board,especially a ski, in which a sliding board upper part preformed as ashell and comprising an upper shell is connected to a sliding boardlower part comprising a running sole, lower web and if appropriate steeledges, and the core is formed by filling the interspace with foamedmaterial.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A sliding board with a profiled rail system is known from EP-A-1 161972. The profiled rail system consists of at least one rail extending inthe longitudinal direction of the sliding board, which is connected tothe sliding board body by a dowel connection or anchoring via at leastone formed-on dowel or dowel portion. The profiled rails are fastened tothe sliding board when it is already finished and consequently onlyreplace the otherwise usual screw fastening. In order to provide asliding board with a premounted profiled rail system, it is thereforestill necessary to carry out subsequent fastening and mountingoperations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a sliding board which does nothave this disadvantage.

According to the invention, the object set is achieved by virtue of thefact that the anchoring element(s) is (are) integrated into the corewhen it is foamed and is (are) retained by the hardened foam.

In accordance with the method according to the invention, an elementcomprising in particular at least one guide element and intended forarranging and if appropriate for guiding a binding element is, by meansof at least one anchoring element, passed through at least one openingand positioned in the preformed upper web, sliding board upper part andlower part are joined together, and filling with foamed material is thencarried out, so that the anchoring element(s) is (are) connected to thecore when the foam hardens.

According to the invention, the element(s) intended for the arrangementof binding parts or elements is (are) therefore already integrated intothe structure of the sliding board, especially of the ski, when it isbeing produced. The otherwise usual subsequent fastening operations forarranging such elements or profiles are thus dispensed with, whichsimplifies production and handling and reduces production costs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the anchoringelements are made in such a way that they can be inserted throughpreformed openings in the upper shell, so that the openings surround theanchoring elements without a gap.

It is important that the anchoring elements are integrated firmly in thesliding board body in order that the profile can without further actionwithstand the loads which occur during functioning. In this connection,it is advantageous if the anchoring elements are provided withindentations, grooves, cutouts, openings and the like. The foam isconsequently connected to the anchoring elements on a larger activesurface.

The profile, or the guide element(s), can have a large number ofpreferably pin-shaped or bolt-shaped or similar anchoring elements.

Elongate elements extending in the longitudinal direction of the profileare also suitable as anchoring elements.

As soon as the anchoring elements are positioned on the upper web, thesurface for adhesion to the foam can be enlarged, and consequently theretaining force of the anchoring elements can be improved, by partswhich can be placed, pushed or screwed onto the elements and aroundwhich the foam of the core accordingly flows.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the surface foradhesion to the foam can be enlarged by one or more plate-shapedconnecting elements, which interconnect two or more anchoring elements.

In order to prevent the liquid foamed material leaking onto the visibleouter side of the sliding board in the region of the positionedanchoring elements during sliding board production, a sealing compoundcan be applied in the region of the gap between the shank of theanchoring element(s) and the respective opening from the underside afterpositioning of the anchoring element(s).

As an alternative to this, the anchoring elements can in each case beprovided, in their region resting on the upper shell, with a cuttingedge running around the opening in the upper shell, which edge ispressed into the upper shell either during positioning of the anchoringelement or during pressing of the sliding board.

In a preferred embodiment, the sealing compound consists of anelastomeric material and is therefore, for example, a silicone sealingcompound; according to another embodiment of the invention, the sealingcompound can be an adhesive. Such sealing compounds are easy to handleand have a good sealing effect. Moreover, the use of such sealingcompounds is associated with the advantage that the anchoring elementspositioned on the sliding board parts are fixed at the same time, whichsimplifies handling during production of the sliding board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features, advantages and details of the invention are nowexplained in greater detail with reference to the drawing, which shows anumber of illustrative embodiments and in which

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a ski made according to the invention incross section;

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show a front view and a side view of the embodiment ofguide elements shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 c shows a connecting element in a top view;

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b show a front view and a side view of an embodiment ofa profile with guide elements;

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a guide element in cross section andin a side view, and

FIG. 5 shows a cross section through a ski with further variantembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cross section through an embodiment of a ski, which has arunning sole 1, steel edges 2, a lower web 3 and an upper shell 4. Thecore 5 of the ski is foamed, guide elements 6, which are made in theform of profiled rails onto which functional elements of a ski binding,for example a front or rear binding jaw or a baseplate of the same, arepushed and on which the functional elements are guided, being integratedduring the foaming operation and retained by the hardened foam. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 1, a pair of rail-type guide elements 6 isintegrated into the ski structure. The binding elements pushed onto theguide elements 6 can be arranged slidably movably or be connected to theguide elements 6 by means of a catching device. In the case of aslidably movable arrangement, the fixing and positioning in relation tothe ski is carried out elsewhere.

The steel edges 2, the running sole 1, the lower web 3 and the uppershell 4 can be parts made in a known way. For example, the upper shell4, which is illustrated as a single layer in FIG. 1, can also be madewith two or more layers. The upper shell 4 is preferably made as acomponent which is preformed in a shell shape and is integrated duringthe foaming operation.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show views of the rail-type guide elements 6 fromFIG. 1. The guide elements 6 are steel or plastic profiles, which areprovided with offset profiled parts 7, onto which a ski binding part canbe pushed and on which it can be slidably movably guided and whichprevent the ski binding part from being lifted off from the ski. Eachprofiled part 7 is arranged on a base part 8, which extends over theentire length of the guide element 6 and is provided on its undersidewith at least two anchoring elements 9, which are preferably made in onepiece with the guide elements 6 and produced together with these. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, the anchoring elements 9 arecylindrically shaped and consequently have approximately the shape ofbolts or pins. Any other round or angular embodiments are possible forthe anchoring elements 9, for example cuboid shape and the like.

The anchoring elements 9 are configured in such a way on the outsidethat they can be integrated well during the foaming operation forproducing the core 5 in order to ensure that the anchoring elements 9are located firmly and permanently in the core 5 of the ski. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, the anchoring elements 9 areprovided with a number of indentations or grooves 9 a. Embodiments withthread-type structures are also possible. Provision can also be made forseparate elements, such as pins, platelets and the like, to be attachedto the anchoring elements 9 in order to enlarge the surfaces gripped andsurrounded by the foam. These elements can pushed on, screwed on and thelike before the core is foamed.

For the insertion of the guide elements 6, the upper shell 4 is providedwith corresponding cutouts or holes, which are to be made with asaccurate a fit as possible. The anchoring elements 9 should thereforehave their maximum diameter or cross section where they are surroundedby the upper shell 4 when the guide elements 6 have been positioned.Parts or elements projecting away from the anchoring elements 9 aretherefore attached after the guide elements 6 have been positioned onthe upper shell 4.

In order to improve the anchoring of the guide elements 6, they can beinterconnected via connecting elements 10. A possible embodiment of aplate-shaped connecting element 10 is shown in FIG. 2 c. Receivinglocations, which allow the connecting element 10 concerned to be pushedonto two anchoring elements 9, are formed, by a fork-type design in eachcase, in the end portions of the connecting elements 10.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, the two guide elements 6′are components of a profile 16 made in one piece, in which the two baseparts 8′ are interconnected centrally. In a similar way to FIGS. 2 a and2 b, anchoring elements 9′ are arranged on the underside of the baseparts 8′. In this variant embodiment, two rows of anchoring elements 9′are preferably provided, in each case approximately in the region belowthe base parts 8′.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, one guide element 6″ of a pair ofguide elements is shown, in the case of which at least one anchoringelement 19 extending over a major portion of the longitudinal extent ofthe guide element 6″ is provided instead of separate, in particularpin-type or bolt-type anchoring elements. In this connection, more thanone anchoring element 19 can be provided on a single guide element 6″.The anchoring element(s) 19 allow(s) positioning of the guide elements6″ in the upper shell 4 through correspondingly designed slots duringproduction of the ski. As FIG. 4 shows, the anchoring element 19 can beprovided with a number of holes 20, through which the foam introducedfor forming the core can flow. Instead of such holes 20 or openings,which can have any shape, depressions, grooves and the like can also beprovided. After positioning on the upper shell, additional elementsimproving the anchoring in the material of the core can also be pushedon, clipped on and the like on the anchoring elements 19.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section through an embodiment of an alpine ski,which comprises an upper shell 4′″ forming the upper side of the ski andthe two longitudinal sides of the ski, a running sole 1′″, edges 2′″made of steel and a foamed core 5′″. A lower web 3′″ adjoins the runningsole 1′″ on the inside as a further layer, and an upper web 13 adjoinsthe upper shell 4′″, on the inside as a further layer. The upper web 13and the lower web 3′″ are layers which reinforce the ski structure. Theupper shell 4′″ itself can be constructed from one or more layers and isprovided with a design or with design elements. The upper shell 4′″, theupper web 13, the running sole 1′″, the lower web 3′″ and the steeledges 1′″ are in particular preformed and prefabricated parts; the core5′″ is produced by filling the ski with foamed material after it hasbeen assembled and introduced into a mold.

The anchoring elements 9′″ of an interface element, which have beenpositioned during ski production, have been integrated firmly into thefoamed material of the core 5′″ during the hardening of the foamedmaterial. In the embodiment illustrated, the interface element is aguide element 6′″ with a rail-type profile, which, together with asecond guide element 6′″ arranged symmetrically in relation to thelongitudinal axis of the ski in the same way, is intended for arranging,fastening and/or guiding ski binding parts, for example a toe-piece or aheel-holder of a safety ski binding. In particular a pair of guideelements 6′″ with a rail-type profile, which extend on the upper side ofthe ski, is therefore connected to the ski via the anchoring elements9′″. The guide element 6′″ has in its region facing the lateral surfaceof the ski a guide strip 6′″a extending in the longitudinal direction ofthe ski, so that, with arrangement of the guide elements 6′″ in pairs,baseplates or supporting plates of ski binding parts can be pushed on.The guide element 6′″ is provided with receiving bores 6′″b forinserting the anchoring elements 9′″. Each anchoring element 9′″ has ahead 9′″a, which, with the underside of a first inwardly offset region18 a, bears against a surrounding support surface 6′″c of the guideelement 6′″, and, with the underside of a second inwardly offset region18 b, bears against the upper side of the upper shell 4′″.

The in particular essentially cylindrical shank 9′″b of the anchoringelement 9′″ has been pushed through holes or openings 10 adapted to itin the upper shell 4′″ and the upper web 13 and is provided with acircumferential groove 18 c, so that the hardened foamed materialretains the anchoring element 9′″ firmly in the interior of the slidingboard. The retention of the anchoring elements 9′″ in the interior ofthe sliding board can be improved further by other measures which arenot the subject of this invention.

During the production of the ski from its individual components, theupper shell 4′″ and the upper web 13 are provided with the openings orholes 10 for the anchoring elements 9′″. After the guide elements 6′″,together with the anchoring elements 9′″, have been positioned on theupper shell 4′″ and the upper web 13, the gap between the shank 9′″b ofthe positioned anchoring elements 9′″ and the upper web 13 can be sealedall the way round with a sealing compound 14 from the inside, as shownin the case of the anchoring element 9′″ illustrated on the left in FIG.5. The sealing compound 14 can be an adhesive, a silicone compound orthe like. The sealing compound 14 therefore prevents liquid foamedmaterial passing or leaking through into the region of the upper side ofthe ski during the pressing operation during ski production and moreoverretains the anchoring elements 9′″ in their position.

In the case of the anchoring element 9′″ illustrated on the right,another variant for sealing the outer side of the upper shell 4′″ inrelation to the foamed material 16, which has been introduced but isstill liquid, is shown. Here, in the region 18 b of the head 9′″a of theanchoring element 9′″, an all-round cross-sectionally approximatelytriangular cutting edge 17 is provided, facing in the direction of theupper shell 4′″. When the anchoring elements 9′″ are positioned duringski production, the cutting edge 17 penetrates the material of the uppershell 4′″ and in this way forms an all-round barrier, so that foamedmaterial which is still liquid and may pass through between the shank9′″b of the anchoring element 9′″ and the upper shell 4′″ is preventedfrom passing further outward. The two sealing possibilities shown inFIG. 5 can be used at the same time.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5, the anchoringelements can also be made in one piece with the interface elements.

Instead of the rail-type guide elements 6′″ illustrated, one-piecerails, plates or the like with any positioning and fixing devices forski binding parts can be provided.

The illustrative embodiments described and represented relate to use ofthe invention in a ski. However, the invention can also be implementedin other sliding boards, for instance snowboards.

1. A method for producing a sliding board, in which a sliding boardupper part preformed as a shell and comprising an upper shell isconnected to a sliding board lower part comprising a running sole, lowerweb and steel edges, and a core is formed by filling an interspace withfoamed material, comprising the steps of attaching an element comprisingat least one guide element for arranging and guiding a binding elementby passing at least one anchoring element through at least one openingin the preformed upper shell, covering a gap between a shank of theanchoring element and the opening from the underside by a sealingcompound when the anchoring element has been positioned, joiningtogether the sliding board upper part and lower part, and foaming thecore so that the anchoring element is connected to the core when thefoam hardens.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealingcompound consists of an elastomeric material.
 3. The method as claimedin claim 2, wherein said elastomeric material is a silicone sealingcompound.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealingcompound is an adhesive.
 5. A method for producing a sliding board, inwhich a sliding board upper part preformed as a shell and comprising anupper shell is connected to a sliding board lower part comprising arunning sole, lower web and steel edges, and a core is formed by fillingan interspace with foamed material, comprising the steps of attaching anelement comprising at least one guide element for arranging and guidinga binding element by passing at least one anchoring element through atleast one opening in the preformed upper shell, joining together thesliding board upper part and lower part, and foaming the core so thatthe anchoring element is connected to the core when the foam hardens,and providing said at least one anchoring element in a region resting onthe upper shell, with a cutting edge running around the opening, andpressing said edge into the upper shell either during positioning of theanchoring element or during joining of the sliding board upper part andlower part.
 6. A sliding board which is produced in accordance withclaim
 5. 7. A sliding board, with a running sole, an upper shell, alower web and a hardened foam core and rail-type guiding elementsextending in the longitudinal direction of the sliding board and forarranging at least one binding element on an upper side of the slidingboard, said rail-type guiding elements each being connected to thesliding board body by at least two anchoring elements being in one piecewith the respective rail-type guiding element, an anchoring element of afirst of the rail-type guiding elements being connected to an anchoringelement of a second of the rail-type guiding elements by a connectingelement, wherein said anchoring elements and said connecting element areintegrated into said core when it is foamed, in direct contact with thefoam and retained by the hardened foam.
 8. The sliding board as claimedin claim 7, wherein said anchoring elements are inserted throughpreformed openings in said upper shell.
 9. The sliding board as claimedin claim 8, wherein said preformed openings in the upper shell surroundrespective anchoring elements without a gap.
 10. The sliding board asclaimed in claim 7, wherein said anchoring elements are provided withone of indentations, grooves, cutouts, and openings.
 11. The slidingboard as claimed in claim 7, wherein said anchoring elements are one ofpin-shaped, bolt-shaped, and elongate and are in one piece with thearranging element comprising a rail-type guide element.
 12. The slidingboard as claimed in claim 7, wherein said anchoring elements bear partswhich are placed, pushed and/or screwed thereto and which enlarge asurface area thereof for adhesion to the core material.
 13. The slidingboard as claimed in claim 7, wherein said connecting element isplate-shaped.
 14. A sliding board, with a running sole, an upper shell,a lower web and a hardened foam core and with rail-type guiding elementsextending in the longitudinal direction of the sliding board and forarranging at least one binding element on an upper side of the slidingboard, said rail-type guiding elements each being connected to thesliding board body by anchoring elements inserted into the respectiverail-type guiding element and bearing against the rail-type guidingelement, an anchoring element of a first of the rail-type guidingelements being connected to an anchoring element of a second of therail-type anchoring elements by a connecting element, wherein theanchoring elements and the connecting element are integrated into saidcore when it is foamed, in direct contact with the foam, and areretained by the hardened foam.